Mr2 News

German shipowner Leonhardt & Blumberg has entered the tanker shipping sector with the purchase of three MR2 product tankers from Ireland-based Ardmore Shipping.The companies announced Monday that they agreed to terms for the sale of three 2008-built vessels for an aggregate price of $40 million. Immediately following the completion of the sales, which are expected to take place in the second quarter, Ardmore will time charter back each vessel for at least two years. Completion of each sale is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including, for one vessel, a proposed closing date currently in advance of the current purchase lease option exercise date for that vessel…

Oil product tankers earnings have skyrocketed in the first half of 2020, while the sale and purchase (S&P) activity of the oil product tanker market has slowed to the lowest level since 2016. Data from VesselsValue highlight that in the first five months of 2020, only 2.8 million deadweight tons (DWT) of oil product tankers have shifted hands in the second-hand market, a 45% drop compared to the same period last year.A surprising S&P slowdown?The oil product tanker market has thereby experienced a disconnect in the first half of 2020 with high spot earnings…

Two of the world’s largest owners/operators of product tankers, Denmark-based NORDEN and U.S.-based Diamond S Shipping, have created a strategic partnership, DiaNor, to facilitate the commercial consolidation of the product tanker industry.Diamond S will initially contribute 28 medium range (MR2) product tankers to the endeavor, which will be marketed and operated through the Norient Product Pool (NPP). Diamond S also intends to contribute its existing in-house commercial expertise in the product tanker space to the global network of NPP.

Greek ship-owning company Top Ships Inc. announced the completion of sale of MT Stenaweco Elegance.According to a press note from the owner and operator of modern, fuel efficient "ECO" tanker vessels, its previously announced sale of tanker was concluded.The vessel was delivered to its new owner, an unaffiliated third party, and the respective loans for which the vessel was a collateral for were fully prepaid.Few days ago, the Greek tanker owner sold its 50% owned MR2 chemical/product tankers  M/T Holmby Hills and M/T Palm Springs.The vessel sales are subject to customary closing conditions and are anticipated to be concluded during March 2020, said Top Ships.

The international ship-owning company Top Ships announced that its 50% subsidiaries which own M/T Holmby Hills and M/T Palm Springs entered into agreements to sell both vessels to unaffiliated third parties.According to the owner and operator of modern, fuel efficient "ECO" tanker vessels, the vessel sales are subject to customary closing conditions and are anticipated to be concluded during March 2020.The two MR2 tankers are owned by Evangelos Pistiolis-led Top Ships  in a 50-50 joint venture with Gunvor’s Clearlake Shipping.Depending on when the closing of the sales take place and on prevailing USD Swap rates at the time of closing…

The international owner and operator of modern, fuel efficient "ECO" tanker vessels Top Ships announced that it took delivery of the 50,000 dwt scrubber fitted newbuilding M/T Eco Los Angeles.The product/chemical tanker constructed at the Hyundai Mipo shipyard in South Korea.Meanwhile, the Greek tanker owner has recently entered into agreements to dispose of an MR2 tanker pair.The ships, Stenaweco Elegance and Eco Palm Desert, have been sold to unaffiliated third parties.

Greek pure play product tanker company announced that it has completed the sale of the Pyxis Delta, a 2006-built 46,616 dwt product tanker.The maritime transportation holding company said in a press note that the sale proceeds will be used to repay outstanding indebtedness secured by the vessel and for general corporate purposes.Valentios Valentis, our Chairman and CEO said: “This transaction furthers our operating strategy to focus on modern eco-MR tankers and reflects a more efficient allocation of capital resources to improve our financial condition. We are well-positioned to generate significant cash flows from an improving market…

Diamond S Shipping Inc, the owner and operator of crude oil and product tankers, has sold two 2008-built MR vessels, the Atlantic Aquarius and Atlantic Leo, generating approximately $11.3 million of liquidity before settlement of working capital.A non-cash write-off of $18.3 million was recognized in connection with the vessel sales, it said.Diamond S Shipping owns and operates 66 vessels on the water, including 15 Suezmax vessels, one Aframax and 50 medium-range (MR) product tankers.The company groups its business primarily by commodity transported and segments its fleet into a 16-vessel crude oil transportation fleet (the Crude Fleet) and a 50-vessel refined petroleum product transportation fleet (the Product Fleet).The Crude Fleet consists of 15 Suezmax vessels and one Aframax vessel.

Danish tanker owner and operator Maersk Tankers held a naming ceremony for Maersk Curacao, its eighth MR unit being delivered by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI)."SHA122 becomes Maersk Curacao: Our latest newbuilding received its name during a traditional naming ceremony at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Ningo, China," said a Twitter message from Maersk Tankers."Maersk Curacao is number 18 out of 19 MR newbuildings and will be delivered to our fleet in the near future," it added.Like the sister ship Maersk Crete, which was officially named on July 24, Maersk Curacao flies the Singaporean flag and has a capacity of 52,914 cbm. This is the third Samsung-built MR2 to be delivered to Maersk Tankers this year.The final vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2020.

McQuilling Services Announces the Release of the 2019 Mid-Year Tanker Market Outlook Update.The Mid-Year Tanker Market Outlook Update provides an outlook on the global tanker market in the context of global economic growth and oil fundamentals influencing tanker demand and vessel supply. The outlook includes a view on future asset values, time charter rates, market freight rates and TCE revenues for 24 major tanker trades and four triangulated routes across eight vessel segments for the second half of 2019 through the remaining four years of the forecast period 2019-2023.

Top Ships, a provider of oil, petroleum products and chemicals transportation services, has concluded a financing agreement with an undisclosed Chinese financier to refinance one of its MR2 tankers.The  Greek tanker owner and operator said in a press release that the gross proceeds from the new financing amount to $25.6m and will be used mainly to refinance the facility of M/T Stena Weco Excellence with Nord LB.The tenor of the new facility is 10 years, it added.The company also announced that it intends to enter into 2 additional Financing Agreements with the same financier at similar terms, in order to exercise its purchase options for the M/Ts Stena Weco Energy and Stena Weco Evolution.

Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation, an owner and operator of tanker vessels, announced that it has completed a $103.2 million sale and leaseback transaction for three MR2 product tankers and two LR1 product tankers. The proceeds have been used to refinance $82.4 million of bank debt.The Transaction provides for 28 quarterly payments of $2.3 million each plus interest at LIBOR plus 350 bps per annum. Navios Acquisition has an obligation to purchase the vessels at the end of seventh year for $39.7 million. Navios Acquisition has no further maturities on its credit facilities for the next 14 months.

Croatian shipping company Tankerska Next Generation (TNG) has fixed out another of its MR tankers on a period charter.The conventional ice class product tanker MT Velebit  has secured one year contracted employment with immediate effect, it said in a press release.The tanker will be chartered out to a prominent charterer at approximately USD 14,500 per day with usual market terms.Additionally, the charterer has an option to extend the contract for an additional eight months at approximately USD 15,500 per day.The achieved conditions are thoroughly in line with the company's strategic concept that focuses on the efforts to secure a strong asset base and stable cash flow.

Indian shipping company Mercator Limited has decided to sell one of its vessels, Vedika Prem, as part of its strategic plan.The MR2 tanker has been sold for a total consideration of INR 28.54 Crore (around USD 4.1 million) to an unnamed buyer."The deal was concluded yesterday (November 29). The proceeds from the sale would be used to meet the companies debt obligations and liabilities," said a stock exchange annoucement the company with diversified business interests in Coal, Oil & Gas, Commodity Transportation and Dredging."The aforesaid transaction does not fall within the definition of related party transactions and not a material related party transaction.

A new ship holding company has been formed through a joint venture agreement between physical energy trader Gunvor Group, ship management company Oceangold Tankers and investor Maas Capital.The three partners hold an equal share in the new company, ClearOcean Tankers, which has been incorporated in Cyprus.The new joint venture company has entered into shipbuilding contracts for six vessels from South Korean shipyards, including four MR2 product tankers from STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. and two LR2 product tankers from Daehan Shipbuilding Co.

Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation, an owner and operator of tanker vessels, announced that it has completed a $71.5 million sale and leaseback agreement  for four MR2 product tankers. The proceeds have been used to extinguish $69.25 million of indebtedness. The Agreement provides for 24 quarterly payments of $1.5 million each plus interest at LIBOR plus 305 bps per annum. Navios Acquisition has an obligation to purchase the vessels at the end of sixth year for $35.8 million. Angeliki Frangou, Chairman and CEO of Navios Acquisition, said, “We are pleased to have concluded a sale and leaseback agreement for four product tankers with a leading Chinese institution. Navios Acquisition has no further maturities on its credit facilities for the next 14 months.

McQuilling Services has  announced the release of the 2016-2020 Tanker Market Outlook. This report is a five-year outlook for eight vessel classes across 18 benchmark trades and represents the company’s 19th forecasting cycle. After over 10 years of tanker rate forecasting, McQuilling Services is a leader in the industry and continues to support a variety of stakeholders in the energy, maritime and financial services industries with its annual Tanker Market Outlook. Our full-year 2015 projection from last year’s Tanker Market Outlook tracked within 5% of actual market levels on the 15 trades forecasted. For the nine DPP trades, the original forecasts ended the year within 3% of recorded levels, while the six CPP trades ended within 7%.

Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation, announced today the employment of three product tankers at charter rates that are, on average, 14 percent higher than their previous charter rates. The Nave Equator, an MR2 product tanker, has been chartered to a high-quality counterparty for 18 months at $17,000 (net) per day. The vessel is expected to generate approximately $5.5 million of aggregate EBITDA for the 18-month charter period, assuming operating expenses approximating current operating costs and 360 revenue days per year. The Nave Titan and the Nave Orion, both MR2 product tankers, have had their charters extended for one year, following the charterers’ options being exercised.

South Korea’s STX Offshore & Shipbuilding won contracts to build six tankers from Greece and local shippers, reports Korea JoongAng Daily. STX announced that Greek shipper OceanGold Tankers placed an order for four medium-range tankers of 50,000 DWT capacity. Two were order on an option contract, which gives the buyer a right to pay for the ship at a pre-determined price in case ship prices rise. The deal was worth $140 million in total. According to STX,  the ships will be constructed in its Jinhae shipyard in Changwon, South Gyeongsan, and delivered by the first quarter of 2019. Two days ago, STX announced orders for two 11,200 DWT tankers - one an option contract - that move oil and chemical products from a local company, Woolim Shipping.

Healthy returns enjoyed by the product tanker market in recent years are under threat as impending fleet growth is expected to reduce the sector’s earnings over the medium term, according to the Product Tanker Market Annual Report 2015 published by global shipping consultancy Drewry. The widespread switching of trade by product/chemical tankers (also called “swing” tankers) from chemicals to refined products has resulted in rapid growth in the product tanker fleet, which has expanded by 11.4 million dwt through 2012-14 (of which 8.2 million dwt is attributable to switching of tonnage).

In 2017, global ton-mile demand to transport crude and residual fuels increased by 5.4 percent, supported by a 4.9 percent increase in VLCCs (which accounted for 62 percent of the total demand for dirty tankers), according to McQuilling Services’ 2018-2022 Tanker Market Outlook report. Suezmax demand meanwhile accounted for 24 percent of all DPP demand in 2017, 1 percent higher than 2016 due to higher crude exports from the Southern Europe and North Africa load region towards the Asian refinery complex.

* Frontline achieved net income attributable to the Company of $17.4 million, or $0.09 per share, for the third quarter of 2015 and net income attributable to the Company of $65.9 million, or $0.42 per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2015. * The long-term charters for the 1995-built Suezmax tankers, Front Glory and Front Splendour, were terminated in September and October, respectively. The Company received compensation payments of $2.2 million and $1.3 million, respectively, for the termination of the charters. * In November, the Company agreed to terminate the long-term charter for the 1998-built Suezmax tanker, Mindanao. The charter is expected to terminate in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation, an owner and operator of tanker vessels, announced that it has agreed to sell the Nave Galactic, a 2009-built VLCC of 297,168 dwt to Navios Maritime Midstream Partners for $44.5 million. Navios Acquisition also agreed to extend the charter rate backstop of the Shinyo Kannika to the Nave Galactic. Navios Acquisition intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the vessel for repayment of indebtedness, reinvestment in vessels and general working capital purposes. As a result of this transaction, the Nave Galactic will be substituted by the Nave Equinox and the Nave Pyxis MR2 product tankers as collateral under the 8 1/8% Secured Bond due 2021.